Assassin’s Creed DS confirmed, dated, priced

Assassin's Creed DS has been confirmed by Ubisoft, and the handheld prequel to …

There's been a lot of rumblings about a handheld version of Ubisoft's excellent action-adventure title Assassin's Creed. The title's existence was revealed through retailer web sites like GameStop, which listed the DS as one of the platforms, but little was known or officially confirmed about the game. Today, Ubisoft sent word that the DS title is indeed legit and, surprisingly, will be hitting Canadian shelves in February for CAN$29.99, likely alongside a similarly-priced American release.

Titled Assassin’s Creed Altaïr’s Chronicles, the handheld version of the game maintains many of the same core gameplay mechanics while adding in some stylus control to manipulate Altair in a "fully realized 3D world." Better still, the DS version is actually a direct prequel to the console versions, so players hungry for more information on the complicated plot will certainly want to check this DS version out.

Ubisoft's John Parkes said that "the success of Assassin's Creed worldwide has been incredible and we're excited to delve deeper into the story and bring it to the Nintendo DS. Assassin’s Creed Altaïr’s Chronicles will be a title that resonates with those who played the console version as well as those who have yet to discover the secrets of Assassin’s Creed."

The game already looks pretty sharp, and we're looking forward to seeing if Ubisoft can manage to pull this one off. With the way that Assassin's Creed ended, I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for more information—and something to tide me over until the sequel. Expect a review when the game is released.